


best day(s) of my life

by Starry_Dragon



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Autistic Ling Yao, Co-workers, Light-Hearted, M/M, Modern AU, Trans Edward Elric, id say highschool au but theyre canonically highschool age
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-18
Updated: 2019-05-18
Packaged: 2020-03-07 12:21:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18873115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starry_Dragon/pseuds/Starry_Dragon
Summary: i had a dream so big and loud // i jumped so high i touched the clouds(Ling "suffers" under capitalism and is also pretty gay, dude)





	1. cash & change

**Author's Note:**

> SO. I TRIED TO PUBLISH THIS YESTERDAY AND MY INTERNET DIED :(  
> but thats fine lmao  
> anyways enjoy this is very fun they work at a cvs, you know, all that

It’s almost three in the afternoon on a Wednesday, and a little drizzly at that, so Ling leaves the school library — at exactly 2:50 — and makes the quick walk to his “lovely workplace,” also known as the CVS on the corner of Cypress and Washington Street.

At 2:59 he opens the door and he clocks in after going to the back of the store at 3:00, practically on the dot.

His boss, Fu, who also happens to be his neighbour (so he’s super nice, something that could not be said for 90% of customers) says  _ hi _ to him, and asks him how he’s doing, so Ling puts on his practiced smile and says he’s just fine.

Well, he isn't  _ not _ fine, at least.

“Oh yes, and we'll have a new employee coming in at 3:30, I think,” Fu says, then wanders off to do who-knows-what in the drugstore part of the store.

The CVS always smells like Essence Of CVS, which is a somewhat indescribable smell that seems to originate from the rough textured grey-black carpet and stop at the second set of folding doors. Ling hates it and loves it at the same time.

He puts on his apron with name tag all ready to go and mans the second cash register. It's his favourite one, for reasons that are completely mysterious even to him. 

Go figure, the first person to walk in the door is a regular to the drugstore — Ling doesn't actually know his name, but he's gotta be a serial cigarette smoker, ‘cause he comes in once a day  _ almost  _ but  _ not quite _ like clockwork to get a pack of smokes and a Red Bull, which is frankly disgusting, but he’s not rude even though he smells like cigarette smoke and shitty cologne, which is better than most of the people Ling deals with.

And the guy comes to the counter with his usual Red Bull and Ling has the brand of cigarettes he gets  _ memorised  _ at this point as well as his total but he asks anyways, just to make sure, and he doesn't even have to look at the register to read out what he's owed. The guy slides a 20 over the counter and tells Ling to keep the change like he always does, and he leaves with a cigarette already in his mouth.

Ling  _ keeps the change _ , quite literally, because he knows Fu won't tell him off and their corporate overlords don't care in the slightest especially because the money he pockets wasn't actually supposed to be theirs in the first place.

Ling sees a few more people at the register, a group of middle-school kids probably coming from the library or the teen center down the street. They buy one-dollar drinks and gossip among themselves. Another memorable persona is an old guy who, after seeing Ling’s ponytail, goes off on a mumble-rant about the state of society nowadays while trying to get a free coupon. Ling ends up giving it to him just to make him leave already.

Just as the old man shuffles out the door, someone who looks Ling's age walks in. He's got long blond hair in a braid and he's wearing ripped jeans with a t-shirt.

He looks at Ling, both of them avoiding eye contact. “I'm the new guy,” he says, surprisingly confident for someone who's all over so withdrawn. “Should I find the manager or something?”

Ling nods. “He's in the back.” Just to impress upon this new kid where that is, he points.

The blond kid strides through the aisles and out of Ling's sight, an odd unevenness in his steps.

Ling leans on the counter and looks at his phone. It's unprofessional, sure, but what else is he gonna do? As soon as he actually gets around to checking anything worthwhile, Fu is back with the new guy, now outfitted with a red apron and a name tag that reads “Ed.”

“Hey, Yao,” Fu says, and he tells Ling to teach Ed to use the cash register. 

Ling grumbles out a  _ you're the owner, why don't you do it? _ but Fu is good at disappearing when he wants to and soon enough he's gone.

“Okay,” Ling says once Ed’s standing next to but still a little too far away from him. “So you should be able to work this register if you know how to do basic math. Basically you scan the thing and it does the thing and then you press these buttons.” Ling does it with a pack of gum to show just how it's done, then cancels the transaction and puts it back. “And you have to ID people that are asking for cigarettes, but that's basically it.”

Ed nods. He doesn't seem like a talkative type, which is too bad, because Ling will talk at him anyways because that's who he  _ is _ and Ed will just have to endure it.

But also maybe it's a good thing, because he doesn't know when to shut up, and eventually the lack of response will get to him. Also he's terrible at talking to people he hasn't known for long.

It's busy today, but not too busy because the rain has become less of a drizzle and more of a proper rainfall, the kind that results in fat drops sliding off of leaves and plopping straight onto your scalp, sending your soul shooting out of your body through your spine at 100 miles per hour. There's a visible trail of rainwater on the floor that people had tracked in when Ling finally goes to clock out.

It's 7:30, and Ling goes back to the registers because Ed's shift is probably over too. He puts his hands on the counter and leans on them.

“Hey,” he says, a failing bid to be even slightly smooth. “Do you want an Arizona? ‘Cause I got extra cash from this guy who came in earlier.”

“Sure,” Ed says, then goes to the back to clock out. Ling leaves two bucks on the counter and puts the rest in his wallet. They meet up at the fridge and Ling squats down to look at the selection.

“What flavour?” he asks Ed, who's staring off into space.

“Arnold Palmer,” he says, without breaking the distant gaze. Ling gets the drink and hands it to Ed, who finally stops staring into nothing and looks at the grayscale face on the drink instead.

Ling, who hates doing things that could get him in trouble, half-considers not even paying for the drinks, but reason (and a healthy amount of anxiety) wins out and he puts the money in the cash register before walking out with Ed.

It's getting dark out now, but they walk the long way home anyways. Ling finally gets Ed to talk to him. He learns that he's got a brother in eighth grade and that he lives with his uncle. The rain has stopped and they walk the tree-lined streets slowly. They live in the same area, but Ling gets home first, waving goodbye and unlocking the door to his apartment building.

It's only when he walks through his apartment door and greets his little sister that he realises  _ he didn't get Ed's number. _

Oops.


	2. revelry & realizations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> and i'm just tryna play it cool now // but that's not what i wanna do now
> 
> (its a bit gay folks)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> that last one was really just the setup for The Gay that is still to come. also them working at cvs becomes steadily less important lmao

Ling hasn't paid attention in math class for years at this point, so he's badly hiding his phone under the desk until he looks around just for the sake of it.

And maybe he hadn't noticed before because it wasn't important who was in his class (or, really, what was going on in it at all) but there's a very familiar golden braid two rows in front and one to the left of his desk, which is interesting because as much as Ed is a friend Ling finds it hard to fathom him at school, much less working diligently. It might be the whole “gremlin teenage delinquent” vibe he gives off.

So at work after school Ling leans against the counter in a way that would make any decent manager gasp and faint. “So I think you're in my math class,” he says to Ed.

“Cool.” And that's Ed for you. “It’s kind of weird to think of you as someone who’s in the same school as me, though.” Ling agrees.

“So, what lunch do you have?” Ling runs a hand through his bangs, making them stick up even more.

“I have B lunch,” Ed says, pauses, then looks Ling right in the forehead because neither of them are really fond of eye contact. “Why, you wanna have lunch together sometime?”

”Yeah, I usually hang out in the library during lunch. Gets kinda lonely. I have B lunch too.” Ling is silently relieved, because Ed is the closest thing he can call a friend except for Lan Fan, who’s a senior now, and Mei, who’s for one thing his half-sister, and for another thing a seventh-grader.

The cigarette guy comes in. His name’s Havoc, apparently, and he works with Ed’s uncle. He says hi to both of them and gets his usual.

After he’s left, there’s a silence, but it isn’t awkward at all. It’s just natural, something that can be easily filled by the cars outside.

“Hey Ed?” Ling asks, after what could have been an eternity and what could have been only a few seconds. 

“Yeah?”

And it’s bordering on hot out but not quite, like summer is quietly creeping up on them, and Ling is just about ready to tilt his head up to the sun and burn his eyes out staring at it, because the walls of the CVS have never felt more confining and the air never smelled more sterile.

“Let’s get out of here,” he says to Edward like they’re going to sneak out of a party and make out in a car instead of walk to a park and sit on the swings, play music too loud, and laugh.

And there’s no protest, so they leave with just a word to the understanding Fu —  _ you boys go enjoy yourselves _ , he says nicely, because there’s three hundred and sixty four other days of the year.

They’ve shed their red aprons and name tags, and they’re nameless and free now, music that doesn’t quite fit either of their tastes blasting out of the speaker in Ed’s backpack.

Ling is very suddenly  _ very _ tempted to kiss him.

He doesn’t, because that thought alone opens up a whole host of other things that are just now unwinding themselves in Ling’s brain, and he honestly tries his best to suppress the whole thought of it under the almost-summer sun.

He almost succeeds.

Ling has known he liked boys since sixth grade or so, and it was never really an issue for him. And it still isn’t really, he’s not more scared someone’s gonna look wrong at him and beat him to the pavement than he’s been, but the world all tilts to the left-right and everything turns pink like rose-coloured glasses for a split second before it all returns to normal.

Ling drags himself out of his thoughts and forces himself to live in the moment. They’ve walked practically instinctually in the direction of home, and they’re passing by the park with the tire swing now, so Ling grabs Ed’s wrist and tugs him in that direction. There’s a brief look of surprise on his face, but he follows Ling without any protest.

The park is lively, because it’s four in the afternoon and it’s almost the perfect temperature outside and the sky is so blue the oceans in the Caribbean are green with envy in comparison. But the tire swing is empty so Ling gets on and holds it steady so Ed can swing his legs over, and now their knees are touching and it’s really close for someone who’s just found out he has a huge crush on his friend but he doesn’t mind in the slightest.

Because if he loves Ed, that’s okay.

The swing spins around just fast enough that if Ling stops looking at Ed’s hand on the chain his head will start spinning in time with the swing and he’s not sure it will stop.

Because he does love Ed, and that’s okay.


	3. sunsets & snapshots

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> go write your message on the pavement // burn so bright i wonder what the wave meant
> 
> ("shall i compare thee to a summer day," aka "u r as hot as august")

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ed is kind of touch starved can we get an f

It’s finally summer vacation, and it seems as though Ling has infinite freedom. He passed sophomore year, at least, and now he’s going to the park with  _ everyone _ — Lan Fan and Mei, Ed’s younger brother Alphonse and of course Ed himself.

It’s nice, the five of them on the field sitting down and standing up and kicking a ball around under the slow-fading summer light. Ling is simultaneously graceful and horribly clumsy, which makes him awful at sports, but it’s a good time and that matters the most.

Al is running circles around Ling, Ed, and Mei with the ball while Lan Fan valianty tries to guard her goal. Somehow, Al is a good head taller than his brother even though he’s a freshman, and barely that, too. Ed has muttered enough times about buying shoe lifts that Ling’s not entirely sure if he’s joking when he says it again.

Ling, in a startling display of athletisicm that lasts about 0.01 seconds, manages to kick the ball out from Al’s feet, and Lan Fan has it and it looks like she’s about to score a goal but Ed comes in out of nowhere — there must be some upsides to being 5’3” and a menace to society after all — and steals it from her, and Ling’s torn between being dismayed and amazed as Edward Elric, fucked-up-joint haver and CVS employee extraordinaire scores a solid goal on Lan Fan, who lifts weights _for_ _fun_.

Al pumps his fists. “Way to go, Brother!” he says.

After the soccer game, in which Lan Fan’s team was thoroughly beaten despite her best efforts, Ling is spread-eagled on the warm summer-green grass. The sun is dipping its way below the horizon, and Edward, standing in just the right way, is outlined in gold.

Before he knows what he’s doing, Ling whips out his phone and takes a picture. It’s honestly perfect, maybe more than perfect, because every golden strand of Ed’s hair catches the sunset light and reflects it.

He’s glowing, and Ling just wants to wrap that dark ball of pure sunlight into his arms and never let go.

Ed looks at him, and Ling grins stupidly, and before he even realises it Ed has snatched his phone and looked at the damning photo. But he doesn’t look mad, actually he’s pleased, and he flops down on the dirt too. And Edward, who Ling sees as the opposite of tactile, has laid his head on Ling’s chest, right over his heart, and there’s grass in his braid but Ling doesn’t move to pick it out because even if he wanted to every muscle in his body is frozen, even his heart, which doesn’t explain why it’s so loud in his ears.

“It’s a nice picture,” Ed murmurs with his breath ever so lightly tickling Ling’s ribcage, and maybe that explains the butterflies in his stomach too. “I didn’t think I ever looked good.”

And Ling’s glad he likes it and also that he doesn’t think it’s weird. The sun’s retreat is turning the air cold and the sky red, and he fails to resist the temptation of closing his eyes just a moment or maybe an eternity.

When he wakes up it’s to someone shaking him and the comfortable pressure of someone else on his chest startlingly vacant, and maybe it’s that or the finally-settled summer night cold that makes his eyes snap open. Lan Fan has him by the shoulder which is a momentary disappointment, and he realises the Elrics are gone, probably back home, which makes sense because it’s past sunset now and the only light left in the sky is the faint reminders of day.

Ling still has his phone, though. And he still has the photo.

And when he unlocks it next he sees that the most recent photo on his album is a picture of him sleeping on the grass, Ed curled up against him.

He can’t help smiling wide even though it’s  _ excellent _ blackmail material.


	4. parades & promises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> and i wonder // when i sing along with you // if everything could ever feel this real forever // if anything could ever be this good again
> 
> (the gang goes to a pride parade. things happen!)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY pride month. this one is for the gays

It's getting well into June, and the heat has taken over entirely now, ripening fruits and making it all smell a little summer-sweet.

Maybe the best part of June is Central’s pride parade, and everyone is coming — Ed and Ling of course, but also Lan Fan, Mei, Alphonse, and a childhood friend of Ed's called Winry.

Ling is decked out in rainbows from his absurd rainbow hat to his fantastic rainbow socks. Ed is wearing the same thing he always does, borderline goth with a bit of eyeliner that Ling finds  _ unfairly _ attractive, but he's got a big trans flag tied around his neck and that just makes it all better.

They take the trolley in and meet up with Ed's friend Winry, who's literally wearing the lesbian flag as a skirt, which is kind of iconic. Ling knows she's cool immediately. It's a little weird having her around at first but she's talkative and clearly very interested in mechanics, which is also cool. Ling warms up to her fast.

The parade's going to start soon, and they all planned to march with the high school. They've just found the group on the street where the parade itself starts when Ed complains of a pain in his knee.

Ed gets these a lot, and they're annoying, locking up his joint and making him walk funny. Since it would hurt him a lot to march in the parade, Ling offers to find a good spot to hang out and watch it with him.

They go about halfway down the parade route and find an area where there are big stone things probably to sit on jutting up a few feet above street level. There's people sitting on them but not that many so Ling helps Ed up onto the sun-warmed stone.

He settles himself down and swings his feet against the stone a few times before shifting into a cross-legged position.

Ed’s still next to him for a moment, but then he leans towards Ling and rests his head on his shoulder, just like that. And surely he can feel the way Ling tells himself to  _ relax _ but apparently he doesn't care at all that Ling is undergoing gay panic right next to him because he slings his arm right around Ling's waist too like it's no big deal.

So Ling might have made a  _ noise  _ at that, but he really hopes no one noticed and finally he can hear the parade starting from the wild cheers to his right, and he just accepts Ed's weight against his shoulder and his hand around his waist as how things are now.

And the parade is passing by when Ed retracts himself from Ling's space. Ling almost sighs when he does, because the feeling of someone else's head on his shoulder was comforting, but then there's a gentle hand on the same place and Ed has turned sideways towards him.

Ling turns too, one leg draping over the edge now just to hang, and Ed’s looking him right in the eyes. And normally Ling would avert his gaze or hide behind his hair but this time he doesn't mind, because Ed's eyes are startlingly golden and now there's a warm hand on his jawline, and Ling doesn't mind any of this at all.

And when they both lean in simultaneously, Ed's thumb resting itself on Ling's cheekbone like it's always been meant to go there, Ling goes deaf and blind to the rest of the world.

And when their lips meet, awkward but more amazing than Ling could have imagined, it seems like all the sound comes rushing back and the crowd is cheering for  _ them _ . And maybe some of them are.

Ling watches the rest of the parade like he's only half there. He's absorbed in Edward pressed up against his side now, focuses on it with an astonishing single-mindedness, in the warmth of his skin even under his shirt and the slowness of his breath.

And he realises that while having a crush is good, being in love is  _ fantastic _ .

After the parade, Winry comes up to them. “You had a good time?” she says, and winks.

Ling isn't sure he's visibly blushing but his face definitely feels hot. “You saw that?”

“Saw what?” Winry asks, a tease in her voice, and laughs.

And Ling kisses Ed again right in front of her just because now he can.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i might post another chapter but i really Dont know, this is probably it. hope you enjoyed though!


End file.
